FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff show will be at UMN on Saturday. Here’s what you should know about the fan-friendly event

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Gopher football fans had to endure a 10 p.m. Central time kickoff at Washington last week; now get to enjoy the spotlight of a national TV pregame show before its 11 a.m. start against Michigan on Saturday.

FOX’s “Big Noon Kickoff” has traveled to Minnesota for the first time and will broadcast on campus for two hours before the Little Brown Jug rivalry game at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Here are seven things to know about the pregame show:

— The TV set on the front lawn outside 3M Arena at Mariucci opens its fan pit at 7:30 a.m.; the show starts at 9. There will be a handful of giveaways, including $500 for the best sign.

“It’s all about the fans,” Rob Mikulicka, FOX’s director of remote studio operations, told the Pioneer Press. “… We want to make the fans are part of the show, so all the elements that we have out there are geared towards the fans.”

— “Big Noon Kickoff” launched in 2019 and has made well-worn paths to two Big Ten destinations. The show has gone to Ohio State’s Horseshoe a record-high 14 times, followed by Michigan’s Big House for eight visits and then Colorado, Penn State and Indiana four times apiece, according to a FOX spokesperson.

“They’re fantastic,” Mikulicka said of the Gophers. “It’s always great when they want us there. I’m not saying that schools haven’t wanted us there. But they really want us here.”

FOX has brought a smaller version if it pregame show — a simpler desk set for inside the stadium to Minneapolis twice before — but never the full fan-centric pregame show. This weekend, FOX also will have a desk on the west plaza inside Huntington Bank Stadium.

— The ratings for “Big Noon Kickoff” pale in comparison to ESPN’s “College GameDay.” Across the opening three weeks of the 2026 season, College Gameday had roughly 3.5 million viewers during the final hour of its shows, while Big Noon had an average of approximately 1.2 million, according to sports media reporter Richard Deitsch.

— The Gophers view these pregame shows as part “informercial for the University,” a phrase used by the school in head coach P.J. Fleck’s latest contract agreement in February.

“I think it’s such great exposure for the University of Minnesota, our elite institution, what it’s like to be here at the University of Minnesota, the environment our student body, our band, our fans create on game day at Huntington Bank Stadium,” Fleck said this week. “That’s what it’s for.”

— The Gophers are keen to use the exposure of “Big Noon Kickoff” on the high school recruiting trail.

“They already know,” Fleck said Monday.

— FOX travels with a fleet of seven semi-trucks and a few 36-foot box trucks. Approximately 170 people will work on the set, from constriction workers to on-air talent such as Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn, Mark Ingram II, Dave Portnoy and Rob Stone.

FOX surveyed prospective sites on the U campus years in advance of last Saturday’s announcement they would, in fact, be coming to Minneapolis. Officials arrived here on Monday for meetings. Set construction was in full swing on Tuesday and completed by Thursday. Friday is reserved for rehearsals and pre-taped segments, while set tear-down will be complete by Saturday night.

“It’s a big traveling circus,” Mikulicka said.

— The Gophers have twice hosted “College GameDay” — and lost both games.

In November 2019, a festive, snowy scene on Northrop Mall preceded the Battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe, but the ninth-ranked Gophers lost 38-17 to No. 13 Wisconsin.

In October 2020, No. 18 Michigan blew out No. 21 Minnesota, 49-24, to keep the Little Brown Jug, but no fans were able to attend the show due to restrictions for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday’s College GameDay will be in Iowa City for the afternoon game between undefeated ranked teams Iowa and Ohio State.

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